The New Guy
by Aeris-Eithne
Summary: "Let me ask you something, Relena. Do you always play by the rules?" He smiled with just one corner of his mouth. "Or do you ever observe just the letter of the law?"
1. Did you hear?

"Did you hear? They caught the new guy with condoms," whispered a short blonde girl wearing the St. Gabriel uniform. Relena rolled her eyes. The Catholic high school was abuzz with what the students were calling a sex scandal; it was all her classmates could talk about. Relena continued her studying, pretending not to notice.

Still, she could understand why her fellow students were curious. The "new guy," Heero Yuy, was an exchange student from Japan, but his dark blue eyes made him appear to be only half-Asian. He had the height and build of most Asian teenage boys, but there was something about him that made him seem more mature than others his age. Relena noticed something profound and worldly behind his dark eyes. That, along with his mess of unruly brown hair, easily made him the best-looking guy in their school. All of Relena's female friends were drooling over him; the condom rumor, which would ostracize anyone else, only solidified Heero's "sex-god" status.

"Oh, my gosh, there he is!" the blonde girl squealed. Relena glanced up; she couldn't help it. Heero was striding into the library, holding a laptop case and looking unbelievably sexy in the boy's uniform, a gray suit with a maroon-colored vest. He was one of the few guys who made the uniform look good, she realized. Her cheeks colored; she buried her face in her algebra textbook.

The first exams of the semester were coming up, and so every table in the library was packed. Heero, who was known for being standoffish, appeared to be looking for an empty spot. Relena had been unsuccessful in that herself; most of the seats at her table were occupied, except for the one next to her, where she had placed her black messenger bag. She saw Heero glance at the seat, then at her. Shyly, Relena pushed her bag to the floor.

Heero began walking toward her. Relena felt her heart thumping wildly against her chest. She dropped her eyes back to her textbook and didn't look up again, even as Heero was standing beside her.

"Hey," he said flatly. Heero's voice was dark and rich, but he spoke in a monotone. He was becoming known around campus for his monosyllabic sentences.

"Hi," Relena replied softly, still not looking up. She simply tilted her head to the seat beside her. "You can sit down," she added gently.

Heero obeyed. He set his book and laptop on the table, flipped open the computer's lid and, just seconds later, began typing away furiously.

Relena tried to get back to her math problems, but the _click-click-clacking_ of Heero's typing distracted her. Or maybe it was just Heero himself. Either way, Relena found it impossible to concentrate. Before she even realized it, she had dropped her pencil and was staring at Heero as he worked.

He paused, frowning. "What?" he asked curtly.

Relena flushed. "Sorry," she muttered. "I… was just wondering what you're working on that has you typing so fast. It's impressive," she added. She flashed him her sweetest smile, hoping he wouldn't find her stupid.

He didn't smile back, but his stone-smooth face appeared to soften. "English," he answered in his monotone. "I'm writing a synthesis paper." He knit his brows together, deepening his frown. "It's hard," he said, turning his eyes back to the screen.

Relena frowned, too, pursing her lips together. "Really? What's it about?"

"We had to read and respond to two articles on ethics in the workplace." Heero rolled his eyes. "I have no idea what that has to do with English. But anyway…" He gestured to his screen. "The paper's due tomorrow. I had someone in the writing center look it over, and it's all wrong."

Relena couldn't believe Heero had spoken so many complete sentences in a row, but she tried to hide her surprise.

"Hmm…" She peered over his shoulder, glancing over the paper and the comments someone had typed in red next to Heero's writing. "Well, I haven't read the whole thing, but it looks like you're on the right track. You just ended a few sentences with prepositions, and I'm guessing Sister LaReau doesn't like that… right?"

Heero's dark eyes widened. Relena thought he looked impressed. "Yeah, that's right." He tilted his head to look at her. "What else?"

Relena leaned closer to get a better look. "Well… the person who edited this didn't catch it, but you've got a few split infinitives and dangling modifiers. If you clean those things up, this will be a really good paper." She smiled warmly at him.

"Huh." Heero seemed to be mulling this over. "I have no idea what you're talking about, but then English isn't my first language, you know."

Relena nodded, smiling. She liked knowing that someone else her age was at least bilingual; for her part, Relena was fluent in French and spoke decent Italian and Spanish.

"So…" Heero angled his body toward Relena, and she was surprised by how close their faces were. She hadn't realized she was leaning over him so much and struggled not to blush again. "If I print this off, would you edit it for me?" he asked.

She nodded quickly.

"Thanks," he murmured. He turned back to his laptop, saving his work to a flash drive. That task done, he looked at Relena again. "Hey, it's Relena, right?" She nodded again. "Good. That's not a hard name to remember." He gave her an alluring half-smile, causing her heart to pound a little faster.

"Oh? You're not used to that name?" she teased.

Heero shook his head. "Never heard of it. People in my country would probably say it wrong."

Relena shrugged. "Well, I suppose people here pronounce 'Heero' wrong, too."

Heero rolled his eyes. "Yeah. I keep getting called 'Hero.' It's annoying."

Relena laughed. She wasn't sure, but she thought she saw Heero's face brighten.

"I don't understand it," he continued their conversation. "We're in the middle of Marseilles, and yet none of the students here seem to speak any French."

"Perhaps because this school has a lot of Americans," Relena said, shrugging. "I don't really understand it, either. I'm from France myself," she added.

"Hn," Heero grunted. "You don't sound it."

"That's because I have an American father," Relena sighed.

"And you're not happy about that," Heero guessed.

"It's not so bad," Relena said, shrugging. "He's a businessman, so I've gotten to do a lot of traveling with him." She gave Heero another warm smile. "I've even been to Japan."

Heero's dark eyes flickered. "Yeah? Did you like it?"

Relena tipped her head, smiling easily. _"Hai. Mochiron."_

Heero looked a little startled, but then his features relaxed. "Wow," he murmured. "It's been a while since I heard any Japanese."

"Try not to get used to it," Relena giggled. "I only know a few phrases."

Heero gave her a tiny smirk. "At least we have French."

Relena's heart fluttered. Was the "new guy" flirting with her?

He picked up her algebra book suddenly and began flipping through it, then frowned and set it back in front of her. "Are you a sophomore?" he asked. Relena nodded. "Then how come you're taking algebra?"

Relena felt her cheeks flame. "I…I'm not very good at math," she muttered. She looked down at her lap, embarrassed. Then she gasped as Heero tipped her chin up with his index finger.

"I can teach you," he murmured, his lips just inches from hers. "You just need to learn a few tricks."

Relena swallowed nervously. "Tricks?" she gulped.

Heero smirked. "Uh-huh. Come by my room tonight; I'll show you everything you need to know."

Relena could hardly believe what she was hearing. His _room_? She'd have to be careful; St. Gabriel had very strict rules about girls being in boys' rooms, and vice versa. There was only a small window of time she'd be allowed in there before visitation hours ended for the evening.

She knew the risks, but found herself saying, "Okay. After dinner?"

"Hn." Heero nodded. "Can you correct my paper by then?" His deep blue eyes, which looked hard and cold from a distance, were surprisingly warm and soft up close. They were drawing her in, almost pleading with her. Relena felt herself melting.

"Sure, anything," she murmured. It was all she could do not to sigh and swoon in his arms.

"Good," Heero replied. He dropped his hand from her chin, and Relena flushed; he'd been touching her face for nearly a whole minute. "Wait here while I print it off," he was saying. "It'll only take a minute." With that, he swept out of his seat, striding to the other side of the library.

Relena touched her face in wonder. _Did he really… did all of that really just happen? _She looked up and realized that everyone at her table was staring at her. She heard the gossipy blonde girl whispering; the only words she made out were "Heero Yuy," "Relena Darlian" and "Don Juan." Relena sunk down in her seat, once again using her algebra book as a shield.

_What is he doing with me? _She wondered as she watched Heero log onto one of the library's desktop computers. _Is he like that with all the girls? _She narrowed her eyes as she peered at him over her textbook. _Is he… a Don Juan, like everyone says?_ Suddenly, Heero snapped his head up, as if he knew he was being watched. He caught her eye from across the room; he didn't smile at her, but Relena saw a flicker of recognition in his eyes. He tipped his head at her, so she nodded back. Then she shivered and returned her attention to math. What kind of strange relationship had she started?


	2. All eyes on me

Relena had the queasy feeling that everyone was talking about her as she entered the room. Walking into the cafeteria, Relena heard a steady murmur of voices until her feet crossed the threshold—right then, she swore that the entire room fell silent.

It seemed fairly impossible that a cafeteria full of students could become so hushed, but then St. Gabriel was a fairly small school.

Relena flushed all the way up to her hairline but kept walking until she reached her usual table. Her friends were already seated there, and she hoped she could rely on them for some sanity, and perhaps a little perspective.

But the chatty group of girls, too, stopped talking the second Relena sat down. At first, Relena pretended to be more interested in tucking into her salad. She finally looked up to see all three girls gaping at her, as if waiting for her to speak. She heaved a sigh.

"Ok, you guys. What?"

Dorothy gave an indelible smirk. "We heard you made quite an impression on a certain exchange student," she purred.

Now it was Relena's turn to gape. "Are you _serious_?" she groaned. "You guys, I literally just met him a few hours ago."

"Yeah! When's the wedding?" Hilde all but squealed.

"Relena, you would look so pretty with your hair pulled up for your wedding!" Catherine cried. "You could do one of your braids across the top—"

"Heidi braids!" Hilde chimed in.

"Guys, stop!" Relena cried, putting her hands up. "What are you all talking about? I don't even know this guy."

"Interesting." Dorothy quirked an eyebrow. "Methinks the lady doth protest too much."

Relena rolled her eyes. "I don't believe that phrase applies when the 'lady' and guy in question _literally just met_."

"Love at first sight?" Dorothy mused. "Should I be quoting _Romeo and Juliet_ instead?"

"Please don't," Relena moaned. "There's nothing going on here—I'm telling you. I just met this guy and spent maybe two minutes talking to him."

"Two minutes?" Hilde sighed. "Wow!"

"That's amazing," Catherine agreed, twirling a strand of her curly red hair. "I hear the most he's talked to anyone is in, like, one-word sentences. And I thought Trowa was quiet! Compared to Heero, he's a regular chatterbox!"

Relena sighed once more, her patience wearing thin. "I didn't mean_ literally_ two minutes. It could have been shorter, or longer. It's not like I timed it."

"I would have," Hilde whispered, blushing.

"What a shocking conversation to stumble into," a snarky male voice quipped from behind.

Relena whirled around to see Wufei Chang standing just behind her seat. _Great_, she thought with a grimace. She quickly recovered and greeted the upperclassman with her trademark smile.

"Hi Wufei," she all but sang. "Is there something we could help you with?"

"As a matter of fact, yes," Wufei said, grabbing a chair and plopping down between Relena and Catherine, though he wasn't exactly invited.

"You could tell me what's going on with you and that exchange student, and whether or not this scandal will impair your ability to serve on student council." Wufei seemed to be enjoying this. He and Relena were the presidents of their respective classes and often squared off at meetings.

"Tell me, Wufei, do you always believe everything you hear?" Relena asked, dodging his initial question.

"That depends," Wufei smirked, "on whether the information comes from a reliable source. In this case, several witnesses confirmed that they saw the two of you necking in the library."

"Necking?" Hilde screeched. "Oh, my gosh!"

"Yeah, I heard Heero practically kissed you!" Catherine jumped in. "But I didn't hear anything more than that. Did he actually do something?"

Relena put her face in her hands. "Nobody kissed, or necked, or did any such thing. We had one little conversation, and now the whole school appears to be having a diatribe. What I don't understand is why everyone is so interested in..."

Just then, everyone at the table heard their cell phones ring, chime or buzz. They all whipped them out to check them at once.

Relena opened her flip phone with chagrin. All of the students subscribed to live updates from the school newspaper, "The Guardian," which really functioned as a gossip blog. How did Relena know that the latest item would be about her?

Someone had snapped a photo of Heero, looking quite annoyed, in a hallway. The caption underneath read, "Salve Relena!"

"Clever," Dorothy chuckled. "Not a bad photo, either. Downloading…"

"That doesn't even make any sense," Wufei muttered. "If by 'salve' they meant 'save,' then they went with the wrong Latin word."

"Nobody even speaks Latin anymore, so nobody cares." Catherine stuck her tongue out at Wufei.

"I get it! It's kind of funny," said Hilde. Then she glanced up at a perturbed Relena and quickly backtracked. "Just kidding! It's totally not."

Relena snapped her phone shut and shoved it back into her bag. As she did so, she felt as if a million pairs of eyes were boring into her. Surely enough, she looked up again to see dozens of faces staring right at her. As sophomore class president, the reigning "Prom Princess" and overall popular student, Relena was used to having a certain amount of attention bestowed upon her. This, however, was getting beyond ridiculous.

Wufei shocked her by clearing his throat.

"Everyone, please go back to whatever it was you were doing," he announced loudly enough for the entire room to hear. "If you would like to continue discussing the rumor in question, you may feel free to do so at the next student council meeting during the public commentary session."

Relena gasped. "Wufei!" she whispered, elbowing her fellow councilman. "This is not a matter for the student council! It's personal!"

"Ah," Wufei smirked at her again. "So you admit it."

Relena smacked her palm to her face.

"What's really crazy is to think that Trowa's the one updating this thing," Catherine was saying to Hilde and Dorothy, gesturing to her neon pink phone. "For a not-so-talkative guy, he sure knows how to get everyone _else _talking!"

"Yeah, it's unbelievable!" Hilde enthused. "Trowa's so quiet for years and years, then turns around and becomes a journalist! He's a really good writer!"

"He wrote two words," Relena pointed out. "He's not exactly prolific."

"Not-uh, he definitely updates this thing all day long," Hilde pointed to her phone. "That takes dedication."

"He has his helpers," Dorothy grinned. "There are eyes and ears all over the school."

"Dorothy," Relena warned, "if you give him any help on this one…"

"I've said nothing so far! I swear." Dorothy held her hands up defensively.

"And you'd better not, either." Relena leaned forward and leveled her gaze at Dorothy. "I need to know that there are at least a few people I can trust."

"Just be sure to bury any controversies before next year's election," Wufei warned. "Even buried skeletons have a way of getting dug up..."

"It's a good thing we've got plenty of dirt on you, then," Dorothy retorted. It was the first loyal statement Relena had heard her say all day.

"Hmmph. We'll see about that." Wufei pushed his chair away from the table and stood up to leave. "Well, ladies, it's been… interesting." He cast a steely gaze at Relena. "See _you_ at the next council meeting."

As soon as he was gone, the girls turned back to Heero talk, simultaneously tossing questions at Relena.

"So, what's he _really_ like?"

"Is he as good-looking up close?"

"Did he _really_ try to kiss you?"

"What color are his eyes?"

"Did he ask you out or what?"

Relena took a deep breath and tried to answer the ping-ponged questions in the order they'd been asked of her.

"I don't know, yes, I don't _think_ so, blue, and no, not exactly." She sat back and smiled, satisfied, as her friends attempted to process this.

"No _way_ his eyes are blue," Catherine gasped, scrolling furiously through her phone to go back to Heero's picture.

"And what do you mean by not _exactly_?" Hilde wanted to know.

"He didn't ask me on a date," Relena shrugged. "That's all."

"But he did ask you to do _something_," Dorothy purred. She said it as a statement, not a question.

Relena was afraid she'd already given away too much. "He asked me if I wanted to study with him. That's _all_," she reiterated.

The girls let out a collective gasp so loud that several surrounding tables looked over. Just when Relena had thought they'd manage to divert everyone else's attention, too.

Once again, the girls were tittering all at once.

"That's definitely a date!"

"Yeah, it's guy code! It's a date!"

"Hmm… what are you going to wear?"

"What if this time, he _really_ tries to kiss you?"

"Ohmigod, do you think you'll see the condoms?"

"You should wear something alluring, but still approachable…"

"I wonder if he uses tongue!"

"I wonder where he keeps his stash?"

"We should all come over and help you pick something out!"

Relena held her up her hand to stop the stream of chatter. This time, she didn't bother to address each individual question.

"Whatever it is you're scheming, the answer is absolutely not," she said flatly. "I'm not changing into anything special. I'm going straight from here, uniform and all, to Heero's dorm, where he is going to help me with math. That's _it_. Ok?"

Each one of Relena's friends gazed at her with eyes gleaming. Dorothy's had a particularly mischievous glint.

"Forget it," Relena sighed. "You guys can think whatever you want to. But that's all that's going on, and I'm afraid there's nothing scintillating to report."

"If you say so," Dorothy murmured, flipping her long flaxen hair. "But I expect a full update in the morning."

"Eeee! I won't be able to sleep!" Hilde squealed.

Relena reached over and placed a hand on her short-haired friend's shoulder. "Hilde, please," she said. "Find a hobby."

"If you need to talk to someone tonight, Relena, you can _caaalll_ me," Catherine said in a sing-song voice. "And I promise—I won't tell Trowa!"

Relena decided then and there that Catherine would be the last one she'd call.

For now, she feigned gratitude toward her nosy friends.

"Thanks a lot, you guys," she beamed at them. "It's really nice that you care… so much. But I've got to go." She grabbed her practically untouched meal and her messenger bag, bolting before anyone could say otherwise.

**Author's Note:**

Hi, everyone! I'm so excited that you're reading this story! I was so surprised by the response this one got and never intended for this to be more than a one-shot. But reading your comments gave me a few ideas, and now I'm happy to report that this will be a fully fleshed-out story, with chapters and all! Cheers!

For those of you who skipped out on the summary (naughty, naughty!), you might be wondering why Heero is so gosh darn _nice_ to Relena here. And it's not just because I'm a hopeless 1xR shipper (though yeah, ok, that's part of it!).

The idea for this story came about when I imagined Heero as a "normal" high school student. As in, there's no war going on, and no Gundams, and therefore no real reason for a guy like Heero to act the way he does. I thought, wouldn't it be funny if there was an intense, monosyllabic guy running around a Catholic school doing crazy stuff, acting overly conspicuous and heaping entirely too much attention upon himself? What would happen to him, exactly? What would everyone around him think?

The rest of this story is the result of that – truly bizarre – thought process. The first chapter was only a tiny taste of what's about to come. I promise to be relatively faithful to the events of the show, at least when it comes to Heero's time spent in school. I will be reimagining the series, nearly scene by scene:

Heero's horseback riding "lesson"

Fencing!

Relena's fateful party invitation

Relena's party itself

Heero playing with explosives

Relena trailing Heero to find out "what kind of person he is"

The infamous "party night" school dance (not to be confused with Relena's birthday)

Some goofy basketball playing in dorky gym uniforms

Relena showing up everywhere in her pink limo

A whole lot of Oz vs. Romefeller (all hashed out vis-à-vis the student council)

And more!

You may be wondering: Why Marseille? Two GW episodes were set in this city, and I thought it would make a good (and probable) location for St. Gabriel. I decided that Relena would be French, since in this story there's no Sanc Kingdom, and she needs some kind of European ancestry. Also, I live in Boston, a fairly old port city that many say resembles Paris and its architecture, so I thought I could reasonably write about Marseille (I could have written what I know and set the story in Beantown, I suppose, but thinking of the way the characters would talk seriously bothers me! _I_ don't have a "Bah-stahn" accent, by the way; I'm a reporter and have perfected my non-regional diction!).

So, I promise some crazy adventures ahead… and more beloved Gundam Wing characters! Thanks for checking out "The New Guy"! Stay tuned!

P.S. I definitely owe some teenage-esque characterizations, story conventions, and social [networking] situations to the wonderful works of John Hughes, the movie _Clueless_, and, of course, _Gossip Girl_ (if you're read the books or watched the show, the manga is so much better!).

P.P.S. For those of you who would like to have some input in the story, I'm considering a few different characters to comprise Heero's host family (remember, he's an exchange student from Japan). Feel free to vote for who you'd like to see him living with! I'm open to suggestions for his host parents and any kids they might have that he could be forced to room with. Be creative! If no one has any suggestions, don't worry; I do have a few things up my sleeve. But I thought it'd be fun to open it up and make this story more interactive. Feel free to sound off in the comments!

Hugs!

~AE


	3. Flanning the flames

Crossing the quad between the girls' and boys' dormitories was like navigating a minefield. And Relena thought her walk through the cafeteria was bad. The quad was littered with students, and she could feel each one of them passing judgment as she headed toward the boys' building. Never mind that she could be going there to see anyone, really; thanks to _The Guardian's_ email blast, everyone probably knew exactly what she was up to by now. There was no sense in hiding, though she wished she could don some kind of disguise. That would be useless on an unseasonably warm March evening, when the sky would be light for at least another hour or two. Sans the bitter cold mistral winds, spring could arrive fairly early in the South of France.

Once she was safely – or so she hoped – inside the building, Relena unfolded the piece of notebook paper upon which Heero had scrawled his room number. Taking a deep breath, she ascended the dormitory's main stairway and made her way up to the third floor.

Nearly all of the dorm rooms in the narrow hallway were opened, with girls visiting guys, studying, playing cards, or just lounging around and talking. Someone was strumming an acoustic guitar further down the hallway, albeit badly. Relena could also hear the sounds from a spirited video game match, teenage boys shouting over tinny computerized music. She stopped outside the room that was supposed to be Heero's—the door was shut. Taking another deep breath for courage, Relena lightly rapped her hand against it.

There was no answer. She waited a beat and knocked again.

"Heero?" she called. "It's me—Relena. From the library?" she added. Just in case.

The door creaked open slowly, and Heero stuck his head out warily, his eyes quickly scanning the hallway. Then he settled his gaze on Relena.

"Good. It's you." His flat tone of voice wasn't exactly enthusiastic, but Relena thought she detected some relief. "Come in."

Relena couldn't help it—she was dazzled just by the sight of him. And being next to Heero was so much more thrilling than observing him from afar. Why had it taken her so long to get up the nerve to talk to him? He'd already been at St. Gabriel for weeks. If he hadn't sat down next to her in the library earlier, she wouldn't even be here right now. She could only hope she wouldn't somehow make an idiot of herself. Especially if her friends were right, and Heero turned out to be interested in doing something more than studying…

Heero opened the door just enough for Relena to step inside, then quickly shut – and locked – it behind them. This gave the girl quite a start.

"Heero!" she gasped. "You have to keep the door open! School policy," she explained, trying not to sound too panicked. She added a tinkling laugh for good measure, but it only made her sound even more nervous.

"Dammit." Heero obeyed and pushed the door back open. "All these rules…" He raked his hand through his dark shock of hair.

"You're not used to Catholic school, are you?" Relena smiled warmly at him. "Have you gone to one before?"

Heero surprised her with a hearty laugh that sounded almost maniacal. His dark blue eyes gleamed at Relena wickedly.

"Do I… strike you as the religious type?"

Relena found herself blushing. It was becoming a bad habit around Heero, and one she hoped to break—soon.

"No, not exactly," she answered, working to keep her face from turning a deeper shade of crimson. _Just what is he getting at?_ She glanced around his room, searching desperately for some kind of distraction. The bare space afforded her none. Nor did it offer her any sort of glimpse into Heero's character or personality. The walls were white and bare; the beige duvet that came standard on St. Gabriel beds was tucked in perfectly, as if no one had ever slept there; the small wooden secretary desk was spare save for a single neat pile of notebooks and folders. The only signs of life were on the bookshelf, which was crammed full. Relena would have to sneak a glance at the spines later. But now, Heero was talking.

"A lot of these rules and regulations just get lost in translation for me." His eyes glinted as he spoke, indicating that he found humor in this.

"Don't worry about it." Relena waved her hand dismissively. "There's always a learning curve. And besides, the school should realize that you're going to experience some culture shock, not to mention a language barrier."

"That's the problem." Heero crossed his arms over his chest. "The nuns know I speak English. So there's not really much of an excuse."

"Well, surely they understand that you're not going to grasp all of the little nuances," Relena offered.

"Apparently not. They've been pretty hard on me so far. They think I'm the devil, or something." He shot another furtive glance down the hallway. "And evidently, so does everyone else."

_He must be referring to all the rumors_, Relena thought. She felt bad that her immature, gossipy classmates had seemingly hurt his feelings. _Poor Heero._

She reached out and gently touched his arm. "I don't feel that way," she murmured.

For a split second, Heero looked surprised by the contact. "Relena…" His tone was uncharacteristically warm. He leaned close to her and reached up to brush back a strand of her long hair. Once he was just inches from her face, he whispered, "You have no idea what you've gotten yourself into."

Relena's eyes widened. "But… what do you mean?"

Heero took a step back, breaking their contact. "Forget it. Let's study." He pulled out his desk chair and gestured for Relena to sit down. She only gaped at him.

_How could he _do_ that? _One minute, he was practically caressing her face, in a way Relena had only seen in movies. She'd never even seen her father look at her mother like that. The next minute – _boom_ – Heero was back to business. It left her feeling whiplashed.

But two could play at this game. Composing her features, Relena joined Heero at his desk, smoothing her skirt as she sat down.

"I don't think you know what _you're_ getting into." Relena imitated Dorothy's purr. It helped her, momentarily, to pretend she was someone else. Quiet, shy Relena couldn't spar verbally with Heero Yuy blow by blow; but bold, _brazen_ Relena could.

"Hn." It seemed to do the trick; Heero leaned in a little closer. "What's _that_ supposed to mean?"

Relena blinked up at him innocently. "I'm just not the _easiest_ pupil."

A small smile tugged at Heero's lips. "How come?"

"Because…" Relena imitated Heero, brushing a dark lock of hair off his face. "Often, I have my own agenda."

Heero caught her raised hand in his, leveling Relena with the ferocity of his gaze. "Then I'll have to go slowly… and work deliberately… to keep you on track."

Relena stilled her features once more to keep her face from coloring. So far, her fallacy seemed to be working; she'd really seemed to fool Heero into thinking that she was far more worldly and experienced than the naïve schoolgirl he'd probably thought she was. Best of all, it seemed that she'd managed to captivate him.

His dark eyes were burning like two hot coals. Relena was beginning to notice that depending on how intensely Heero looked at her, his eye color could vary from cobalt blue to navy or obsidian. And the more piercing his expression, the blacker his eyes became.

But it was too much. Relena felt like gasping for air. Maybe Heero was right—she really _had _no idea what she'd gotten herself into. She knew nothing about Heero, aside from the few things he'd told her, along with her classmates' take on his bad-boy reputation. Everything was happening so fast. They'd had an instant rapport, and Relena already felt an intense connection to him. Had she already gotten in over her head?

"Let me ask you something, Relena." Heero was still holding tightly to her hand, staring at her unblinkingly.

Relena swallowed, hard. "Y-yes?"

"Do you always play by the rules?" He smiled with just one corner of his mouth. "Or do you ever observe just the letter of the law?"

Relena blinked. "Ah… that depends, I guess. What do you mean?"

Heero tilted his head toward the open door. "We have to keep the door open. Why?"

"School policy," Relena answered automatically, the consummate student council member.

"Yeah… but _why_?" Heero challenged.

"Because it's a Catholic school, Heero, and the rules are stricter here. It's in…"

"What, the rule book? Or, excuse me, the _student code of conduct_. That's odd, I thought I had one around here somewhere…" Heero feigned searching for it on his desk. "No… must've accidentally caught on fire." He smirked.

"So," he continued, "let me get this straight. The powers that be decided, somewhere along the way, that students must have their doors open, when…"

"When members of the opposite sex are present," Relena finished, knitting her brows together. "Where are you going with this, Heero?"

"My point is they're making assumptions about what students could be up to behind closed doors."

"Well, they're teachers, Heero. And nuns. Of course they're going to be concerned that teenagers would be doing something inappropriate."

"That's the term I was looking for," Heero said. "Inappropriate. What's so inappropriate about it, exactly?"

"About males and females being alone together?" Relena scrunched her nose up. "Nothing, I guess, as long as they're not _doing_ anything…"

"Like what?" Heero quirked an eyebrow.

"Like…"

"Something… _inappropriate_?" He smirked. Relena could tell he was enjoying this exchange.

"Well, that depends on your definition of inappropriate." Relena smiled, happy to have settled the argument. Or so she thought.

"That," Heero murmured, tipping up Relena's chin, "is exactly what I'm getting at. I guess I just don't agree with what the _rules_ define as 'inappropriate.' What I think of as normal, the church calls 'immoral.' What I would call 'acting on your emotions,' the church calls 'giving into temptation.' And yet here we are, in France, where _de vie la douceur de vivre_ is _de rigueur… _And all I'm hearing about are stifling rules."

Relena flushed scarlet; she couldn't help it. Heero was touching her again, and giving her that paralyzing look he'd mastered so well. _And_ he'd spoken her native language, tossing off the words in his deep baritone as if he'd spoken them all his life. The saying was right; _everything_ sounded sexier in French. And so, instead of replying to Heero's monologue, a whispered, "_Oh_…" was all Relena could manage.

"It's not surprising," Heero continued, keeping his voice low, "that I don't see eye to eye with the parochial way of doing things, then. Is it?"

"Ah…" Relena cleared her throat, somehow finding her voice. "At the same time, Heero, that's just the way schools like these are. Students know what they're signing up for when they attend here. Or, what their _parents_ are signing them up for," she amended. "I've gone here my whole life, so I guess I'm just… used to these things."

"That's why you jumped a mile when I shut the door," Heero murmured. "You're conditioned." His eyes changed, then, their teasing glint gone. "You're… afraid."

Relena couldn't believe it. Here, she'd felt sorry for Heero for the way her classmates were treating him. But now… was he pitying _her_?

Suddenly, she felt more aloof. "I'm not afraid," she stated firmly, staring straight into Heero's eyes. "It's not like I've been brainwashed by my upbringing. I've got my own convictions and impressions about the world, and not everything echoes the teachings of the church. I understand that there are countless people in the world with other viewpoints and cultures from all walks of life, and exploring these other worldviews has its merits. I'm not a robot," she finished breathlessly.

Heero released her, chuckling softly.

"Funny." He turned his face toward the nearby window, his eyes turning to stone once more. "I struggle to convince people of that myself."

"Of what?" Relena had gotten lost somewhere in their dizzying discourse.

"That I'm not a robot." Heero turned back to her and gave her a half smile. Relena thought that if she were to ever see Heero break out in a toothy grin, she would probably have a heart attack.

"Well, Heero, I've only known you for a little while. Just a few hours, really." Relena smiled back. "But I can already tell that you're _definitely_ not a robot." She laughed, spreading her hands. "For a robot, you certainly gave an impassioned argument for keeping the door closed. I'd say you're pretty much a normal, if a little stoic, hot-blooded teenaged guy."

Heero raised an eyebrow. "Is _that_ what you thought I intended? Relena…" He stood and walked over to the doorway. "I was merely trying to point out how stupid it is that we have to keep the door wide open when we're trying to study. What I was _going_ to say was, wouldn't we get more work done with the door closed? The ambient noise is distracting." He folded his arms over his chest.

Relena's jaw dropped. That's _not_ what he'd been getting at, and he knew it. She was certain now that he was toying with her. In fact, they seemed to be playing quite the game of cat and mouse. Relena got up and moved to stand beside Heero.

"In that case…" Relena pushed the door so that it remained open only a crack. Astonishment washed over Heero's features, though he quickly masked it. Relena gave him her own little smirk.

"The letter of the law," she announced with glee. She turned and sashayed back to Heero's desk.

**A/N:**

Heero defended himself against the "robot" attacks! So if anyone wants to challenge that he's OOC… put up your dukes!

Yes, he spoke French. He's in France! And Relena likes it. And this author likes it, too. *Swoon*

I do appreciate your feedback! And remember, you get to help me decide who Heero's host family is! That revelation will be coming soon!


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